The Forgotten New Year
by Yamina20
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir have been at the "superhero" thing for a few months, winter had arrived in Paris, and Hawkmoth is not about to hibernate.


_Hi everyone, I'm new on writing fan fiction, so I ask for your patience and guidance. I've gotten hooked on the Mircaculous Ladybug fandom and hope this makes a good contribution. Please enjoy. :)_

Chapter 1

The night was cold and getting more so as it dragged on in Paris, the scuttling clouds in the night sky causing the sleeping city of lights to dim, with no stars or moon. Many of the residents were already asleep with their chimneys letting out smoke to curl into the night air on the rooftops, heating their homes from the December chill that pervaded throughout the world. Over the last few months, the roofs had become a way of everyone,travel for the two figures that raced along them, a route that made getting to trouble or keeping it from happening much more efficient. Even though the roofs had a thin layer of frost and ice, they were able to run along them without slipping thanks to their Miraculous suits. Both were slight youths, so the pounding of their feet along the roofs were not felt throughout the whole of the buildings they would acrobat themselves over.

"Did you see anything by Notre Dame, Chat?" asked the young heroine. She was scanning the streets on her right and under her feet as she threw her yo-yo in the air to catch on the other various chimneys to hoist herself into the air, swinging on it to only land a few rooftops away and scan the alleys. Racing to find any sign of trouble with her black leather clad partner, shaking his messy blonde head with black cat ears as they paused for a moment to scan an intersection.

"Nothing but that doesn't mean anything, My Lady" he replied gazing at the poorly lit street below. Wearing an inky black mask that covered half his face, he used his night vision to check the road below since his partner didn't have the advantage. When they didn't see anything, they backed up to get a running start before using a flying leap to get up to speed and search the next few blocks on their route. He used his silver retractable pole to help him keep up with the red and black spotted girl of his affections on her left side. Both of them headed towards the Seine, while she swung once more on her yo-yo.

"How are you holding up with this cold, Chat?" She asked as she felt the cold night getting chillier by the minute across the exposed parts of her face. It caused her cheeks and nose to become redder from the wind and frigid air.

"Better, now that I get to see you, Bugaboo," he smirked and winked at her. Causing the girl to roll her eyes at him and shake her head at his flirting. "Quit calling me Bugaboo," she groaned out.

Chat Noir looked to his left on the streets, not seeing any trouble then back at her at his right. Ladybug's lithe form gracefully running, leaping and swinging over the roof tiles. He knew her blue-black short signature pigtails would be bobbing with her movements, little red red ribbons sticking out from the hairbands holding the strands in place, the red and black spotted mask firmly affixed to her face, making her bluebell eyes pop, with long black lashes framing them. Her freckles would be barely peeking out from under the mask along her cheeks and nose making her look more even attractive in his eyes. Her nose and brow scrunched in concentration as she looked about her, looking for any sign of trouble while swaying and running along the silent rooftops. Her recognizable red suit with black spots enhancing how small she was, barely coming up to his chin but he knew better than to underestimate her like their enemies generally did. They jumped off the last parapet together near the Seine, landing near the railing on the road, and looked downwards to the freezing river below.

They had gotten into a habit of patrolling Paris at night, taking turns separately or sometimes together, if their civilian lives weren't too hectic that day. The city had been attacked for a while now by emotionally unstable people who were driven to evil by black butterflies called Akuma, sent out by the heroes' sworn enemy, Hawkmoth. The only things that Ladybug and Chat Noir knew for sure was that he was after their Miraculous; he would use any means he could to get them. Being a Miraculous holder as well.

"We can't stay out here much longer," he stated as they walked towards the Eiffel Tower rubbing his arms. "It's getting too cold to go patrol our normal routes. Soon we won't even be to patrol at all with the snow storms either."

"That's why I got us some help," smiled Ladybug.

"Oh, what do you mean?"

"Do you remember the girl I asked you to help protect against the Evillustrator, Marinette?"

"Yeah, I remember her," he nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I went back and asked to see how she was doing afterwards. While we talked, I found out she was a designer. It got me thinking that, even though it's going to be getting colder, crime and Hawkmoth won't be hibernating. So, I asked her to come up with some designs for us to wear to keep warm during that time, turns out she was more than happy to help."

"Well of course she'd be happy to help Paris's super duo," preened Chat. "I haven't met a single person, besides Hawkmoth, that wouldn't want to help us." He then proceeds to flex is muscles. Ladybug groans with disgust at his immature behavior.

"There's a problem though; she's having trouble with your outfit because she has no idea what your measurements are so she isn't sure the garments will actually fit without them."

"So you want me to tell you my measurements so you can go tell her," he smirks at her and proceeds to move himself closer. "My shoulder are-," a finger presses to his lips. He stares at her finger then her, seeing the smirk on her face, he stunned to silence looking at those beautiful blue eyes.

"Nope, I can't do that. She has to measure you herself, have you come in for fittings to be sure they're the right size, as well as make sure you will be able to move in them properly when we need to battle the enemy. They won't be as indestructible as our Miraculous suits, but they can at least provide us with warmth." She then continued on their route, shaking his head because of the fascinating girl, and caught up with her.

"I could still tell you my measurements anyway if you're interested in knowing," he said grinning like a true Cheshire, leaning towards her face, bouncing his eyebrows at Ladybug.

She walks around the flirty black cat. "Dream on, silly kitty." Deflated, but not defeated, he continues on the route right behind his Lady. The make their way up the Eiffel Tower, the wind picking up and even more cold than when they were below the iconic architecture. They both gaze out over the city that they call home, seeing the lights winking in and out of focus. She eventually brings up her hands to rub her arms to help ward off the chill that seeps in through her outfit.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The shriek tearing through the peaceful night causing more than a few lights from various buildings to turn on. That was the hero duo's cue to jump off the Eiffel to head towards the sound.

"Another night, another Akuma beaten," smiled Chat Noir.

"Thank goodness. I'm just glad we were able to free the victim and purify the Akuma before dawn. Be sure to get a hold of Marinette, the sooner the outfits are done, the less chance of us catching a cold."

"No problem."

 _ **Beep!**_ Came the inevitable sound from both their Miraculous items.

"Alright, I'm calling it a night, sleep well, Chaton," she states. Flinging her yo-yo, the heroine takes off for the roofs of Paris taking the long way to get home. _Hopefully, he'll come by tonight so I can finally get things set up._

"Good night, My Lady," he murmurs. After a bit he heads off towards his classmate's home. _I just need to see if she's awake. If she is, I'll drop by, if not, I'll s_ _ **cat**_ _and try again another day._ After another beep told him he lost another paw pad, Chat jumped down from the roof, crouching behind a dumpster. Checking to be sure no one is awake, he says, "Plagg, Claws In."

A flash of green and yellow light, the boy standing there undoing his transformation, causing a little black creature to fly out of the ring that was once black became silver. Catching a tiny black cat with bright green eyes looking at him, Adrien Agreste stood there, waiting for the inevitable complaints from his kwami.

"Where's my cheese?!" Rolling his eyes, the model pulls some pieces out of his pocket that he got in the habit of carrying around for emergencies. The tiny black cat purrs, undoing the foil around the pieces, and starts rubbing his tiny face on top of them. Causing his chosen to make a disgusted face. "My gooey sweetness," he murmurs while eating a piece, "the love of my life."

"Really, Plagg?" Adrien complained. "Why couldn't it have been something that didn't smell like dirty socks?"

"Don't be jealous," the tiny familiar admonished, then savored the next piece.

"Why would I be jealous of a tiny cat that only eats stinky, runny, old cheese?"

Plagg looked up at his chosen, giving the boy a knowing evil smirk. "I don't have a problem getting what I want, the love of cheese. You, on the other hand, can't even get the girl you've been grossly crushing on. I swear the faces you make causes me to lose my Camembert," he threw the last piece of cheese in the air, catching in his mouth, and swallowed it whole. "Well, almost." This caused Adrien to cringe. The last time he tried confessing his feelings to Ladybug, he'd told her he loathed her, on Valentine's Day. It wasn't something he remembered, but Plagg had enjoyed relaying the incident to the depressed boy. Even worse, she'd brought up being **kissed** , he got kissed by his Lady, and **he didn't remember it!**

"So, we're going to the shy girl's house tonight, aren't we? Why don't we just head back home and go to sleep early, for once?"

"Only if her lights are off and it looks like she's asleep. Alright, Plagg, Claws Out!"

Chat Noir ran over the icy roofs of Paris, his black leather and silver-toed boots creating no noise, as he headed to the warmer destination. Stealthily, he made it to the open balcony/roof of the Dupain-Cheng's bakery. The place was quiet, the round outdoor table, as well as the lawn chair with it's white awning still sat there, with a small pile of snow resting on them, and along the edge of the balcony. The plants that generally sat on the short concrete partition no longer sat there, save for the small tree, bare of it's leaves, had a light dusting of frost on it. The rest of the roof had nothing but frost and small footprints on it. _I wonder how often she comes out up on the balcony?_

Quietly, Chat went over to the skylight. He went down in his knees, wiped away the frost on the glass with a claw-gloved hand, and peeked into her room. He saw an empty pink bed with a gentle light on over by the desk on the lower part of her room. Giving the place a soft warm glow. Smirking he quietly knocked on the window. He didn't have to wait long, as he saw Marinette climb up the white and black ladder, still in the clothes that she wore that day to class. A white t-shirt with a delicately designed pink flower print towards the top, a charcoal gray blazer with sleeves rolled up to her elbows with the white and pink spotted insides showing, bright pink Capri, and light pink ballet flats. Her raven hair with blue highlights was still in the pigtails she normally wore them in. Quietly, she opened the skylight, slightly shivering from the cold she and gave him a look of surprise.

He grinned and bowed to her, ever the show off. "Good evening, Princess," he purred, "I was told that you needed my help with a project that you're working on for My Lady and myself."

"Oh wow, you came," she gushed, causing the cat boy to puff up his chest from her adoration. "Ladybug said to expect you to come around sometime soon. You can come in, but you'll have to be quiet." Motioning for him to follow, she eased off her bed, climbed down the ladder to the wooden floor, with Chat right behind. He followed her over to her desk/ sewing area, everything seemed to have it's place in the pink, white, and black decor. Over by the small sewing machine was a black and pink cabinet that she opened, pulled out one of the small drawers, and removed her measuring tape. She had her sketch book opened to the page that had a sketched out design on one side and more detailed images drawn on the other with little notes written on them. Chat got a closer look while she was rummaging around her desk for a pen. To say he was shocked was an understatement; he was **floored** by her sketches.

"These are amazing," he exclaimed quietly. "Can I see the ones for Ladybug?" Marinette turned around with a raised brow and pursed lips at him.

"I'm supposed to be getting your measurements, not showing off my sketch work to a superhero," she stated. He looked slightly crestfallen. "Now, please stand with your arms stretched out and your feet spread apart. If we get this done quickly enough, I **might** let you look at them."

He perked up at that and did as asked. He stood still, his belt tail the only thing moved while she took the tape, lengthened and wrapped it, and wrote down the numbers in her sketchbook with the other notes she'd written. He knew the outfit would need careful planning, especially with the way his boots, the belt tail, his retractable staff, bell, cat ears perched on his blonde head, and the cuffs around his gloved hands were placed. Based on the sketches he saw, it looked like those things had been taken into consideration, seeing why the measurements were necessary. Being a model in his civilian life made it so he was used to his kind of thing.

While she worked, he got to look at her desk. The screen on the computer was dark, so there was nothing of interest to look at there. There was a cork board with colorful sticky notes plastered on it along with a sketches that he assumed were for other projects. _You're a busy bee aren't you, Princess_ , he mused. The walls were painted a tint of pink and had what he assumed to be inspirational artwork on them, and a large window behind her computer. He saw off to his right a pink and white chaise with a bright pink umbrella sticking out towards the head of the seat, a pink and black rug under the chaise, a black framed full length mirror, and a female dress form. _Does she only make girl's clothes?_

"Do you normally make clothes for guys?" He asked his curiosity piqued.

"No, I don't, but I consider this a challenge. I like to see what I can do, pushing myself to see what I'm capable of and understanding what my limits are," Marinette answered. _She's very passionate about her work, that's something I never realized. I knew about her talent after the bowler hat competition, but this..._ After making another note in her sketchbook, she looked up at him with her pretty blue eyes. When she tried measuring from his hip to his side, the sliding of her fingers lightly along his rib cage caused him to flinch, his tail shooting straight up in the air, cringing his body away with a strange smile on his face. She pulled away as though she'd scalded him, they looked at each other with wide eyes shocked blue, meeting surprised green.

"Would the great Chat Noir happen to be ticklish?" Marinette asked with a smirk.

"No," he mewled. Then cleared his throat and tried speaking again, "No, not ticklish, just surprised." She stood up with her her weight on one foot, hips cocked at an angle, arms crossed over her chest, one eyebrow raised, and gave him the _You really think I'm that stupid_ look. He gave her a sheepish grin, bringing a hand up behind his head to rub it, an nervous habit; especially after being caught in a lie.

"Look, it's something I need to know so I can be sure not to do it again. It will make things easier on both of us." Sighing in defeat, Chat nods his head. "Alright, let's try this again. I promise that I won't tickle you."

Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he's been holding, he stands still legs together with his arms spread out, praying that she doesn't get him again. Instead of a light touch going along his side with the tape measure, she moved her her thumb more firmly along the cat suit. Not feeling ticklish Chat Noir stood there without twitching, save for his tail which seemed to have a mind of it's own. When she stood behind him with her tape measure and sketchbook, he finally took notice of some other photos and magazine clippings that were stuck on the wall behind her computer. He hadn't noticed them the last time he was there, playing Ultimate Mega Strike III for the tournament to represent their school. He'd only been there an hour but he knew he would've remembered seeing **these** pictures on her wall.

They were pictures of him in his civilian life as Adrien Agreste in various poses, in different outfits, and with different facial expressions. Chat's eyes widened, feeling his cheeks heat up and turn an interesting shade of red, even under the mask; some of it still peeked out. _I definitely don't remember seeing_ _ **these**_ _here last time. That's a lot of pictures of me..._ Slowly, he tries to turn his head around to face the designer behind him, his ears flicked backwards, she looks at him and turns his head around taking no notice of his embarrassment.

"I'm almost done, just need to measure your head, neck, ears, and then we'll be done."

"Um, Marinette," he squeaks trying to get her attention and get his blush under control.

"What is it, Chat," she asked absentmindedly with the tape around his neck. He lowers his arms realizing she was done with every other part of him. Clearing his throat, he took a deep breath, and regaining his inner Chat he tried again.

"I can't seem to help but notice that you have a lot of pictures on your walls."

"They're inspirational pieces," she states writing down in her little book again.

"Really," he purred suggestively, "I didn't know designers liked to use just one subject."

At first Marinette didn't react, thinking he was trying to flirt with her again. _Wait a minute, Chat Noir only flirts with Ladybug and shows off in front of everyone else._ Slowly, she looked over his shoulder after getting his ears measured and looked at her wall. Her eyes widened in horror as she realized what he was talking about. _**Crap**_ _! He's_ _looking at it! He's seen it..._ Her walls plastered with various images from magazines of her crush, Adrien Agreste. The only good thing is the cat hasn't seen her computer wallpaper or the schedule she has hidden on the platform holding her bed up with her L-shaped desk under it. But the damage was done. He turned his head again with a his signature Cheshire grin on his face. Her face turned as red as her Ladybug suit, crushing the measuring tape to her chest.

Marinette quickly turned around, Chat turned as well staring at her back, watching to see if he'd get an even better reaction. _Calm down, Marinette, it's just Chat,_ she tried rationalizing with herself. Standing up with her back straight, she takes a deep breath and releases it. _Okay, I can do this. Act like a superhero fan, get him out of my room, go to bed, and pretend that this_ _ **never**_ _happened._ The raven hair girl turned around with a coy smile, seeing the cat boy's smirk, she held back the urge to smack it off his face.

"Well, as a designer I draw inspiration from other artist's work. Mr. Agreste has his son model most of his line and he also happens to be my favorite designer." She walks over to her sewing machine and puts down her measuring tape, sketchbook and pen. This statement was partly true, if you didn't include her huge crush on the young model.

"Funny," he says with his thumb and forefinger on his chin pondering a thought, "from what little I understand about modeling and designers, they have more than one model to represent the clothes." She barely held herself back from groaning, turns around and faces the cat. _Why can't he for once not be a curious kitty and just leave well enough alone?_

"It's just a coincidence that the clothes he's modeling happen to be the ones I like."

"Not all of them show him wearing Mr. Agreste's new designs, most look like he's wearing normal everyday wear," he says this easily while looking at his claws.

Then Chat turned towards the photos, looking out of the corner of his eye at the girl's face, trying to read her. _Nothing, not even an eye twitch. This girl is either oblivious or she's got a great poker face. What are you hiding?_

"Chat Noir," her voice quieter, he looked towards her. "I never knew you knew so much about modeling and design."

 _Crap! Got my paw caught in the cookie jar._ He took a step away from the raven haired girl, "Oh, these are just my guesses. I'm as surprised as you that I was right."

"It's a great guess," she gushes. _Whew! Crisis averted._

"So, do you have all the measurements you need for mine and Ladybug's winter wear?"

"Yes, but I'll need you to come back for a refitting, so I can be sure that I get the seams placed correctly."

"Could you a **meow** me to take a look at Ladybug's winter wear, please," he begged. He went down on his knees, pouted his bottom lip, put his clawed hands together, his black cat ears drooped, and widened his shiny green cat eyes looking at her pleadingly. _He used another cat pun._ She hated it when he pulled that dirty trick. The fact that he looked like a kitten begging for a treat pulled at her heart strings. It's bad enough Manon pulled that stunt, she didn't need him to do it too. But she also knew that as Marinette, she couldn't put her foot down because it would give her away.

"Yes, you may," she said sweetly. "But after that you have to go, I need to sleep for school tomorrow." Chat looked at her, ears perked up, grinning like a he'd gotten the canary.

He stood straight and raised a clawed hand, " **Purr** omise."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, it's was a difficult feat, and picked up her sketchbook for him to look at. While he flipped through the pages, seeing the different stages of designs for both his and Ladybug's winter clothing, Marinette put away her measuring tape and some of other items she's left on her desk earlier that day. Chat liked all the different ideas and styles she'd sketched out, he also skimmed through the notes she made for both his and Ladybug's studies. There were at least ten pages of ideas, he was surprised how many she'd done before settling on the final ones she'd marked on the pages of her little pink book.

The final design for Ladybug was a red leather jacket design that was similar to his black one. The difference was that his had zippers, while hers had black buttons, even on the pockets. His had a hood that was good for the weather and had cat ears sticking out to protect them from getting wet. Marinette had even made notes to make sure that even with the wind going against them, the hood would stay in place. Ladybug's design had a thick red headband that could cover his Lady's ears. Both coats had felt lining with their respective colors to keep out the cold. Little details in the drawings and notes caught his eye causing him smile at the thought that went into planning these.

The pants that were sketched out showed that his had a couple more zippers put into the design. According to the notes, they'd be a single layer black insulated ski pants to trap body heat better. Ladybugs would be a red pair of wool leggings with black spots on them and a pair of black boots to go with the ensemble. Hers wouldn't have any pockets or buttons, but they'd still function well. He saw that she took into account that the boots would have to have good traction on the soles if she were to run on the roofs or the streets. There were no heels to them which would make running around long distances much easier on his Lady.

The cat boy turned to the girl next to him, she sat in her computer chair, done organizing and cleaning up her area. She was looking at him, a slight pink color tinged her freckled cheeks and nose, her bluebell eyes asking him what he thought. Carefully, he closed the book and handed it back to her.

"These are **claw** some, Marinette," smiling he continued. "My Lady said you were talented, she didn't say you were so **purr** fessional with your work."

"I appreciate the compliment, Chat, but I'm not a professional," she stated brushing off his compliment. She took the sketchbook and put it into her pink backpack for school.

"It's not just a compliment," he said with a flourish he bows, taking her hand and kissed the back of it. "I speak the truth, Princess." Looking up at her he gave her a genuine smile his eyes telling her to trust him. Pulling her hand from his clawed grasp, she gets up from her seat, causing him to straighten.

"Thank you, Chat." Marinette smiled back at him then walk towards the stairs to lead him up to the skylight. He grabbed hold of her upper arm, causing her to turn, and face him. Their faces inches from each other. They stare at each other for a moment, before she comes back to her senses, "Um, Chat?"

Dropping his grip on her arm, he looks back at her with his smirk, and moves over to window by the computer. He pulled up the closed shades, opened the window, allowing the cold wind to push it's way into the little warm room. Then he faced her, "I like entering and exiting from different places, thank you and good night **Purr** incess." He glanced at her over his shoulder and then jumped out her window. She went to the window and saw he used his staff to pole vault to the roof of the house on the other side of the street.

Marinette shut and locked her window, and shook her head at the retreating figure. She brought the blinds down, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Out popped Marinette's little red and black spotted kwami, Tikki. "That was interesting. When do you think you'll get those outfits done?" Picking up her floating familiar, the girl brought her over to her cheek to get nuzzled.

"I still need to get the materials to make them. But with most of the tests for school already done, so I should be able to get started on them tomorrow." As the girl spoke she went to her dresser and pulled out her pajamas for the night, Tikki floated over to her hiding spot by the computer which also hid her bed that was made by her chosen. The girl came back wearing a grey t-shirt with pink and white spotted pajama bottoms. "I'll have plenty of time to work on it during winter break, hopefully, I can get them done in a week or two."

"Good, neither of us will get sick with those outfits. Chat Noir is right your know. You're designs awesome." Smiling at her little red kwami she rubs her on the head causing the little familiar to giggle. She then got up to climb her ladder to her bed.

"Good night, Tikki."


End file.
